8 September 2006 CITY RESPONDS EFFECTIVELY TO POWER DISRUPTIONS Johannesburg’s combined services responded effectively to the power outage that hit the city during rush hour this morning (8 September.) Shortly after the outage occurred at around 07h50 more than 210 JMPD officers were dispatched to key intersections in the city to direct the busy early morning traffic. "Our objective was to keep the traffic flowing and to keep disruptions to a minimum," says Johannesburg Municipality Police Department (JMPD) spokesperson, Wayne Minnaar. "This morning’s event proved our ability to deal effectively with crisis situations." City Power immediately started working on restoring power to the affected areas in the northern parts of the city. Within two and half hours, the power was reconnected to 98% of the area and by mid-afternoon, the entire system was up and running. City Power spokesperson, Louis Pieterse, apologised to Johannesburg residents for the inconvenience caused by the outage but said the city is improving its ability to respond to such emergencies. Liaam Clark, spokesperson of the Johannesburg Road Agency says technical staff was dispatched to affected traffic lights to ensure that they were working properly after the power has been restored. "The city’s traffic lights re-set automatically after an outage but we conducted special spot checks to ensure the network was up and running,” he said. There has been a marked reduction of power outages in the past eight months despite the severely cold conditions experienced during this winter. This has been largely attributed to the huge investments into the City Power old networks which previously caused continuous outages. Over R1,9-billion has been invested in the past five years to improve and upgrade of the electricity network. A further R748-million was allocated for this purpose by the Executive Mayor, Clr Amos Masondo, in the 2006/07 budget. Pieterse says that more than 70% of electricity outages are caused by the ageing infrastructure – some of which date from the 1940’s. "This is why we launched Operation Vuselela to upgrade the network and replace obsolete equipment. A number of transformers are currently being refurbished and 25 new transformers have been ordered. This year will see the introduction of new transformers and cables in Alexandra Township, Auckland Park, Midrand, Modderfontein and Roodepoort. "The rapid expansion of the Johannesburg is placing added demands on the city’s infrastructure. New residential areas are springing up on the outskirts of the city and new businesses and industries are increasingly attracted to the city because of its reputation as the economic heartland of the African continent." Meanwhile, City Power engineers are continuing their investigation into the causes of the outages. The initial priority was to restore power and minimise disruption to residents and commuters. Following this City Power has started to implement measures to prevent future outages. City Manager Mavela AV Dlamini apologised and thanked customers of the city for their patience during this brief power disruption. He also congratulated the combined City services for good performance. "Power cuts cause inconveniences and can not be easily erased from general operations. The greatest test is, however, the ability to provide an excellent service at all times. On behalf of the Executive Mayor, Councillors and my senior management, we wish to congratulate City Power, JMPD and Johannesburg Roads Agency (JRA) for their sterling performance in this incident. The team worked like a well-oiled machine. "This is something to give comfort to our customers. I am certainly proud to lead a city with effective solutions at trying times. I believe business, residents and all other stakeholders now know that the City has an efficient and high-performing group of professionals among its employees. I am certainly proud that we lifted the bar one notch higher and brought ourselves closer to our mission of a working towards a World Class African City." Ends Issued by: Gabu Tugwana Director: Public Liaison Department Cell: 082 495 5673